Digital Smarts - How are Teens Coping in the Time of Corona Virus?

Common Sense and Survey Monkey recently polled over 800 U.S. teens to find out how they're coping with having their lives upended by the coronavirus, and what they do for connection. Not surprisingly, they're stressed out, they are worried about school and many are feeling lonely and disconnected. Texting and social media are lifesavers, but if your kids aren't texting or using social media yet, you can let them use your phone or computer to FaceTime or Zoom with a friend or relative. You can even set up regular times to video-chat with important people in their lives. Keeping these connections is vital. One interesting item from the survey is that, compared to pre-pandemic times, more kids are going directly to news organizations for information instead of learning about it from friends and family. Make sure to talk to them about vetting their sources for news.